The $7 Dinner Challenge #3

Just got back from what I thought was going to be a one hour meeting … three hours later.  You know how that goes … so no lengthy post from me tonight.  But!  It’s our $7 Dinner Challenge night, so I do have to share details…

Dinner?

Bread with Dipping Sauce (appetizer)
Blasted Chicken
Crispy Potatoes

Now the details.  Chicken is on sale this week at A&P for $1/lb, all different types.  Whether you prefer white or dark meat, they’ve got you covered at a price that can’t be beat.  The ingredients in the chicken recipe?  Chicken.  Salt.  Pepper.

Neighbor Wife, are you listening?  THIS is the recipe for you.  It honestly could not get simpler.  Preheat oven to 450.  Put chicken pieces (dark meat, bone-in) on baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Seriously.  That’s it.  I heard about Blasted Chicken a few years back, and the fact that I should look up the recipe to find out what it’s all about has been ruminating in my head (along with much other useless information) for quite awhile now.  So I google’d it (I love that that’s a verb now, not just a url destination) and found a recipe from Sara Moulton on Food Network.  And once I saw how easy it was, I mean, really, how could you not make it?  It produces the most wonderfully crispy skin ever.

So with 3.50 lbs of assorted thighs and drumsticks, the main course was … $3.50.  Yes, $3.50.

Now the potatoes.  Happened to be thumbing through the latest issue of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine the other day when a recipe for Crispy Potatoes caught my eye.  Usually I roast potatoes and love them that way, but I’ve been trying to perfect another way … to get them with a crispy outside and a soft inside.  While her picture looks like that’s the way they are, no way does the recipe work.  Still tasted good, but needed more time, help, guidance and care than the recipe gave.  Bag of potatoes at Shop Rite was $2.99.  I used 1/3 of the bag, so $1.  Only other ingredient was 2 tablespoons of olive oil and an onion (50 cents), which I added to the recipe.  So we’re up to $5.00.

Now the appetizer.  I love dipping sauces for bread.  I think it all started with our first visit to Macaroni Grill many, many years ago.   Since then, I discovered another dipping sauce from Carrabba’s restaurant (and one of these days, I’m going to remember to put the recipe up on the website) that we love equally well, and it’s a great starter to dinner when entertaining.  The kind of interactive appetizer that gets everyone involved, you know?  So anyway — geesh, for a non-lengthy post tonight, this sure isn’t working — found this recipe in an ad for extra virgin olive oil and whipped it up.  I scrounged around in the freezer for bread to use for this and found a 1/4 loaf leftover from a Panera purchase ages ago.  I toasted that up, sliced and chunked it.  Mixed the sauce together with ingredients I had on hand (and you will too) — olive oil, pepper, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning — and voila!  dinner was done.

For $5.00!  Take that!

How’d YOU do?

Did you join in our challenge? Leave your link below and let us know.

Blasted Chicken
Recipe courtesy of Sara Moulton

• 3-1/2 pound chicken, rinsed and patted dry
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper and place in a roasting pan. Roast for 45 minutes, or until the juices run clear when the thigh is pricked with a skewer. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let stand for 15 minutes.  Serves 4.

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